Woman killed after being struck by vehicle while trying to cross highway, Arlington PD says
Arlington police are searching for a driver who struck and killed a woman on I-20 Sunday, the department announced.
Just before 5:15 a.m. on May 25, officers responded to the westbound lanes of I-20 near the Matlock Road overpass after a passerby reported seeing someone lying in the road. When officers arrived, they found a woman's body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to investigators, it's believed that the victim, who has not been identified at this time, entered the road near the overpass and was struck by a vehicle traveling westbound.
Arlington PD said that the driver did not stop to aid the victim, fleeing the scene. No suspect information has been revealed.
Police are asking anyone with information concerning the incident to call 817-575-8608. You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-8477.
The victim's name will be released once their next of kin is notified.
Arlington PD warns pedestrians
The department is reminding the public that pedestrians should "never enter highway lanes."
Police said due to the high rate of speed vehicles travel and the distance it takes to brake, it's extremely dangerous to try and cross a highway.
They advise pedestrians who need to get from one side of the highway to the other to use designated crossings and sidewalks along overpasses and underpasses.
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31 minutes ago
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ASCO Report of Pioneering Treatment of Lymphopenia with Significant Overall Survival Benefit in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
While Epogen and Neupogen addresses anemia and neutropenia, no therapy has existed for the treatment of lymphopenia until ANKTIVA® –The Cancer BioShield. Landmark overall survival benefit (P-value 0.005, HR: 0.46 [0.26, 0.80]) observed in 3rd-6th line metastatic pancreatic cancer, correlated with reversal of lymphopenia. Patients with lower tumor burden and improved lymphocyte counts (ALC ≥1,000) had a median overall survival of 10.1 months, supporting earlier intervention in the disease course. CULVER CITY, Calif., June 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX) today announced results presented at ASCO 2025 of the first known treatment for lymphopenia with ANKTIVA and CAR-NK therapy. This data supports that reversal of lymphopenia, a well-established root cause of early mortality in patients with cancer across all tumor types, correlates with significant improved survival. While anemia and neutropenia have long been addressed by agents like Epogen and Neupogen, no therapy has ever existed for lymphopenia—until now. ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), an IL-15 superagonist approved in April 2024 for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle- invasive bladder cancer carcinoma in situ with or without papillary disease, represents the first lymphocyte-stimulating agent (LSA) capable of expanding lymphocytes critical for immunogenic cell death, such as natural killer (NK) and T cells. These findings emphasize the need for a therapy to overcome treatment induced lymphopenia with higher mortality as presented at ASCO 2025 by several institutions (Abstract #8054, Satoskar et al. and Abstract #2663, Saleh et al.) In a single-arm QUILT-88 clinical trial of 86 participants with third-to-sixth-line metastatic pancreatic cancer with very high tumor burden (CA19-9 levels exceeding 34,000 IU/ml), for which no therapy currently exists, patients received ANKTIVA subcutaneously in combination with off-the-shelf, ex-vivo infusion of CAR-NK cells (PD-L1 t-haNK) and low dose immuno-modulating chemotherapy. This first reported study of treating lymphopenia demonstrated significant differences in median overall survival in subjects whose lymphopenia was reversed (Absolute Lymphocyte Count: ALC ≥ 1,000). In 67 out of 86 subjects, reversal of lymphopenia was achieved and median overall survival was significantly prolonged compared to those who remained in severe lymphopenia with P-value 0.005, HR: 0.46 (0.26, 0.80) in Figure 1. In subjects with lymphopenia rescue and a lower tumor burden (less than the median CA19-9 of 34,000 IU/mL), the median overall survival in these very advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer patients exceeded 10 months (Figure 2). These findings of improved survival in pancreatic cancer patients with lower tumor burden point to the potential of further prolonged overall survival in pancreatic cancer patients if treated in the first line or neoadjuvant stages of disease. Highlighting the importance of lymphopenia reversal, Oncologist published a peer-reviewed paper titled "Recurrent pancreatic cancer treated with N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK followed by an EGFR-targeted nanocell drug conjugate," demonstrating that in a patient with 2nd line metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with the full Cancer BioShield platform—including ANKTIVA, CAR-NK cells (PD-L1 t-haNK), and antigen-targeting adenoviruses—remained in remission for over six years and maintains a high quality of life at the date of this release. The expanded access authorization announced yesterday enables patients across all solid tumor types who have exhausted first-line therapy including chemotherapy, radiation, or immunotherapy to receive Anktiva as a lymphocyte stimulating agent to protect the immune system from the lymphogenic adverse effects of current standards of care. The ASCO Annual Meeting 2025 materials from ImmunityBio can be found below: Association of lymphopenia rescue and CA19-9 levels with overall survival following IL-15 superagonist N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK chemo-immunotherapy for 3rd line or greater metastatic pancreatic Text: Poster PDF: About the Cancer BioShield™ Platform The Cancer BioShield platform is a first-in-class immunotherapy strategy designed to restore immune competence by reversing lymphopenia—the loss of functional immune cells caused by cancer itself and by conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. At its core is ANKTIVA® (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), an IL-15 agonist approved for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer CIS with or without papillary disease, activates and proliferates natural killer (NK) cells and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, restoring lymphocyte levels critical for immunosurveillance, immunogenic cell death, and long-term tumor control. The platform employs a multi-modal approach: In-vivo stimulation: Subcutaneous administration of ANKTIVA expands NK and T cells, boosting anti-tumor immunity. Ex-vivo targeted cytotoxicity: Off-the-shelf PD-L1 t-haNK CAR-NK cells are engineered to target and eliminate PD-L1–expressing tumor cells and immunosuppressive neutrophils (myeloid-derived suppressor cells), enhancing anti-tumor specificity and reducing immune evasion. Memory Cytokine-Enriched Natural Killer (M-ceNK) cell therapy: M-ceNK cells are developed via cytokine activation and expansion of autologous and allogeneic NK cells collected through apheresis, potentially providing long-term immune memory and sustained cytotoxic capacity. Together, these components offer a comprehensive, novel, immune-restoring therapeutic platform aimed at not only expanding effector immune cells but also overcoming tumor-mediated immune suppression to support long-term disease control. The platform's effectiveness can be tracked through universally utilized, simple complete blood count (CBC): increases in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) reflect ANKTIVA's lymphocyte-stimulating activity, while reductions in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) demonstrate PD-L1 t-haNK's immunosuppressive neutrophil targeting. Low ALC and high NLR levels are laboratory measurements that have been extensively reported as predictive biomarkers of poor prognosis with early mortality across all tumor types5,6. The data presented by ImmunityBio for the first time demonstrates that improving ALC and NLR correlates with significant enhanced overall survival and clinical benefit. About Lymphopenia and Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) Lymphopenia—the loss of key immune cells such as NK, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells—is a common side effect of chemotherapy1, radiation2,3, and some immunotherapies4. Unlike anemia and neutropenia, which have FDA-approved treatments like EPO and Neupogen, no therapy previously existed to treat this immune cell depletion. Lymphopenia weakens the immune system, increases infection risk, and is linked to early death across many cancer types5. Low Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) is a recognized poor prognostic marker. ANKTIVA® is the first approved therapy to restore lymphocyte levels by activating and expanding NK and T cells—without increasing immunosuppressive T regulatory cells7. More information on lymphopenia could be found on Twitter/X @DrPatSoonShiong articles here: References: Ray-Coquard I, et al. Lymphopenia as a prognostic factor for overall survival in advanced carcinomas, sarcomas, and lymphomas. Cancer Res. 2009 Jul 1;69(13):5383-91. doi: 10.1158/ Epub 2009 Jun 23. PMID: 19549917; PMCID: PMC2775079. Chen D, et al. Absolute Lymphocyte Count Predicts Abscopal Responses and Outcomes in Patients Receiving Combined Immunotherapy and Radiation Therapy: Analysis of 3 Phase 1/2 Trials. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Sep 1;108(1):196-203. doi: 10.1016/ Epub 2020 Feb 7. Pike LRG, et al. The Impact of Radiation Therapy on Lymphocyte Count and Survival in Metastatic Cancer Patients Receiving PD-1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 Jan 1;103(1):142-151. doi: 10.1016/ Epub 2018 Sep 15. PMID: 30227198. Lee, Y.J., et al. Peripheral lymphocyte count as a surrogate marker of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy outcomes in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Sci Rep 12, 626 (2022). Ménétrier-Caux C., et al. Lymphopenia in Cancer Patients and its Effects on Response to Immunotherapy: an opportunity for combination with Cytokines? J Immunother Cancer. 2019 Mar 28;7(1):85. doi: 10.1186/s40425-019-0549-5. PMID: 30922400; PMCID: PMC6437964. Templeton AJ, et al. Prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) ratio in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 May 29;106(6):dju124. doi: 10.1093/jnci/dju124. PMID: 24875653. FDA ANKTIVA Label, April 2024 - About ImmunityBio ImmunityBio is a vertically-integrated biotechnology company developing next-generation therapies and vaccines that bolster the natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases. The Company's range of immunotherapy and cell therapy platforms, alone and together, act to drive and sustain an immune response with the goal of creating durable and safe protection against disease. Designated an FDA Breakthrough Therapy, ANKTIVA is the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer CIS that activates natural killer cells, T cells, and memory T cells for a long-duration response. The Company is applying its science and platforms to treating cancers, including the development of potential cancer vaccines, as well as developing immunotherapies and cell therapies that we believe sharply reduce or eliminate the need for standard high-dose chemotherapy. These platforms and their associated product candidates are designed to be more effective, accessible, and easily administered than current standards of care in oncology and infectious diseases. For more information, visit (Founder's Vision) and connect with us on X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements regarding clinical trial data and potential results and implications to be drawn therefrom, the expectation that the EAP described herein will enable access to ANKTIVA for patients across all solid tumor types who have exhausted first-line therapy including chemo, radiation or immunotherapy, the RMAT designation as previously reported and potential results therefrom and regulatory submissions in connection therewith, the belief that ALC levels and NLR levels obtained from a CBC are predictors of clinical benefit and outcomes relating to overall survival, the belief that improving ALC levels and NLR levels correlates with enhanced overall survival and clinical benefit, the belief that reversal of lymphopenia correlates with improved survival, clinical trial and expanded access program enrollment, data and potential results to be drawn therefrom, anticipated components of ImmunityBio's Cancer BioShield platform, the development of therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases, potential benefits to patients, potential treatment outcomes for patients, the described mechanism of action and results and contributions therefrom, potential future uses and applications of ANKTIVA alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents for the prevention or reversal of lymphopenia, potential future uses and applications of ANKTIVA alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents across multiple tumor types and indications and for potential applications beyond oncology, potential regulatory pathways and the regulatory review process and timing thereof, the application of the Company's science and platforms to treat cancers or develop cancer vaccines, immunotherapies and cell therapies that has the potential to change the paradigm in cancer care, and ImmunityBio's approved product and investigational agents as compared to existing treatment options, among others. Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are considered forward-looking statements, which are usually identified by the use of words such as "anticipates," "believes," "continues," "goal," "could," "estimates," "scheduled," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "indicate," "projects," "is," "seeks," "should," "will," "strategy," and variations of such words or similar expressions. Statements of past performance, efforts, or results of our preclinical and clinical trials, about which inferences or assumptions may be made, can also be forward-looking statements and are not indicative of future performance or results. Forward-looking statements are neither forecasts, promises nor guarantees, and are based on the current beliefs of ImmunityBio's management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to ImmunityBio. Such information may be limited or incomplete, and ImmunityBio's statements should not be read to indicate that it has conducted a thorough inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. Such statements reflect the current views of ImmunityBio with respect to future events and are subject to known and unknown risks, including business, regulatory, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties, contingencies and assumptions about ImmunityBio, including, without limitation, (i) risks and uncertainties regarding the FDA regulatory submission, filing and review process and the timing thereof, (ii) whether the RMAT designation will lead to an accelerated review or approval, of which there can be no assurance, (iii) risks and uncertainties regarding commercial launch execution, success and timing, (iv) risks and uncertainties regarding participation and enrollment and potential results from the expanded access clinical investigation program described herein, (v) whether clinical trials will result in registrational pathways and the risks, (vi) whether clinical trial data will be accepted by regulatory agencies, (vii) the ability of ImmunityBio to continue its planned preclinical and clinical development of its development programs through itself and/or its investigators, and the timing and success of any such continued preclinical and clinical development, patient enrollment and planned regulatory submissions, (viii) potential delays in product availability and regulatory approvals, (ix) ImmunityBio's ability to retain and hire key personnel, (x) ImmunityBio's ability to obtain additional financing to fund its operations and complete the development and commercialization of its various product candidates, (xi) potential product shortages or manufacturing disruptions that may impact the availability and timing of product, (xii) ImmunityBio's ability to successfully commercialize its approved product and product candidates, (xiii) ImmunityBio's ability to scale its manufacturing and commercial supply operations for its approved product and future approved products, and (xiv) ImmunityBio's ability to obtain, maintain, protect, and enforce patent protection and other proprietary rights for its product candidates and technologies. More details about these and other risks that may impact ImmunityBio's business are described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 3, 2025, and the Company's Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 12, 2025, and in subsequent filings made by ImmunityBio with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at ImmunityBio cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. View source version on Contacts ImmunityBio Contacts: Investors Hemanth Ramaprakash, PhD, MBA ImmunityBio, Inc. +1 Media Sarah Singleton ImmunityBio, Inc. +1 Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How each Diddy victim testified and how it could sway the trial's outcome
At his ongoing trial, Sean Combs has been accused of physical or sexual violence by seven women. His lawyers call them bitter opportunists. Prosecutors call them victims of Combs' criminal racket. Here's what each of these seven women told the jury, and why it matters legally. Over the past month, seven women have taken the stand at the Manhattan trial of rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs to tell chilling personal stories of physical and sexual violence. Two are Combs' ex-girlfriends, three are his former employees, and two were on the periphery of his multimillion-dollar media, entertainment, and lifestyle empire. Defense lawyers call them jealous, or bitter, or greedy. They say all seven women were with Combs by choice and are now out for what one attorney termed "a 'Me Too' money grab." Prosecutors call them victims and say their stories are the heart of the trial. Here's how the testimony of these seven accusers has turned the tables on Combs, building a case for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges that could imprison him for anywhere from 15 years to life. Cassie Ventura, his first sex-trafficking accuser R&B singer Cassie Ventura was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas when Combs, who had signed her to his Bad Boy Records label the year before, surprised her with the kiss that started their relationship. She told the jury that hundreds of times over the next decade, from 2008 until 2018, Combs forced her to meet him at luxury hotels, to dress up in wigs, heels, and lingerie, to take handfuls of drugs, and to have sex with male escorts as Combs filmed and masturbated to the dayslong performances. "I want you to be glistening," she said Combs would tell her as he watched, ordering Ventura and sex workers with names like "Jewels" and "The Punisher" to apply ever more baby oil. These so-called "freak off" performances were first revealed in Ventura's quickly settled 2023 lawsuit. (Combs paid Ventura $20 million.) Ventura's allegations have since been corroborated at trial by freak off videos she'd saved over the years, by hotel records, and by testimony from eye-witnesses, including sex workers. One exotic dancer told jurors he witnessed Combs beating Ventura twice during freak offs in Manhattan between 2012 and 2014. "Bitch, when I tell you to come here, come now, not later," the dancer recalled Combs saying during one of more than a dozen beatings recounted at trial by witnesses and Ventura herself. Prosecutors say Ventura was sex-trafficked, meaning coerced into crossing state lines to participate in commercial sex acts (commercial because they involved paid sex workers). They say the violent, 2016 InterContinental hotel hallway video is unavoidable proof that she was sex-trafficked by force. They will likely argue that other evidence, including her unprofitable record deal and Combs' threats to publicize her freak-off tapes, proves she was sex-trafficked by means of fraud and coercion as well. They will likely also argue that from Ventura's vantage point at the center of the Combs empire, she also witnessed multiple crimes that support the racketeering charge. These include not just sex trafficking, but narcotics sales, forced labor (she was never compensated for her mixtape, a producer testified), extortion (she says Combs threatened to release freak off videos) and kidnapping (she says that when she was 22, he forced her to stay at an LA hotel until the bruises on her battered face healed enough to be hidden by makeup.) The defense has challenged Ventura's credibility by pointing to her lawsuit windfall, to the many times she left the Combs relationship only to freely return, and to the years of texts and emails in which she expresses her love of Combs and the freak offs. But Ventura described being trapped in a cycle of drug addiction, financial and emotional dependency, and fear. And yes, also love. "I would do absolutely anything for him," she told the jury, explaining why she agreed to the first freak off at age 22. "And it never stopped, our whole relationship." "Jane," his second sex-trafficking accuser "Jane," a recent ex-girlfriend of Combs, testified that on their first date at a Miami hotel in 2010, she fell "pretty head-over-heels for Sean." The date lasted five days, she told the jury. Over the next four months, she said, Combs slowly introduced her to his sexual preferences. He loved baby oil and drugs that kept them up day and night. He loved it when she dressed in lingerie and "high stripper heels." He'd play pornography and tell her to fantasize about the men on screen. "Do you like what you see there?" she said he'd ask her of these men. "Do you want that?" Then one night in 2021 at his Miami mansion, as the pornography rolled, he told her, "I can make this fantasy a reality if you'd like that." She loved him, she explained, and agreeing made him so happy. So she said yes. Jane said she soon realized she'd opened up "Pandora's box." Gone were the romantic trips and dinner dates of their first four months. Combs wanted freak offs — by now he was calling them "hotel nights" — nearly every time they saw each other over the next three years, up until his arrest in 2024. "It was just a door I was unable to shut," she told the jury. Jane's testimony has so far described some of the elements of sex trafficking. She said she reluctantly crossed state lines, traveling from the East Coast to Miami to Los Angeles, to engage with paid sex workers. But her testimony, which continues next week, has yet to show that Combs sex trafficked her using force, fraud, or coercion, as the indictment requires. She instead described intensive psychological and financial pressure. She said she agreed to hotel nights because she loved him, and because he'd moved her to Los Angeles from the East Coast and was paying rent and other costs for her and her child. And when she told him she no longer wanted to do hotel nights, he would brush her off, or make what may or may not rise to the level of a coercive threat to withdraw that financial support. "If you want to break up, that's fine," she testified he'd tell her. "Do you need, like, what, three more months in the house? Because I'm not about to be paying for a woman's rent that I'm not even seeing." Prosecutors have said Combs defrauded Jane by promising romantic dinners and trips, only to renege and persuade her into another hotel night. They have also said Combs was brutally violent with Jane, though it's unclear how they plan to draw a link between that violence and sex trafficking by force. Meanwhile, the defense will likely use hundreds of affectionate and erotic texts between Jane and Combs to argue that she is a bitter ex who willingly suffered any demands and violence, and who continues to have her expenses paid by Combs in return. Asked late Friday who is currently paying her rent, Jane answered, "Sean is." Prosecutors have also hinted that Jane is a witness to obstruction of justice, one of the underlying crimes they can use to prove the racketeering charge. "You will hear him try to manipulate Jane into saying she wanted freak offs," Emily Johnson, an assistant US attorney, told the jury during May 12 opening statements, describing a phone call recorded after Ventura's lawsuit was filed. "You will hear him interrupt Jane when she pushes back," Johnson said. Prosecutors have also said he made a point of paying for Jane's housing — even after his arrest. "Mia," his rape accuser "Mia," a former Combs employee, told the jury about a night 15 years ago, when she slept in the employee bedroom at his Los Angeles mansion. She woke up with Combs on top of her, she said, telling her, "Be quiet." "It was very quick, but it felt like forever," she said, her voice breaking into quiet, gasping sobs. Mia, like Jane, testified under a pseudonym to protect her privacy. She told the jury that Combs raped or sexually assaulted her at least four times throughout her eight years working as his personal assistant and as an executive for his short-lived movie company, Revolt Films. As with Jane and Cassie, Mia described in dozens of texts and social media posts struggling with her financial dependence on Combs and her fear of his violent nature, even as she spoke warmly of him. Mia supported the Ventura sex-trafficking claim. She said she saw Combs throw Ventura to the ground and "crack her head open." But Mia was not herself sex-trafficked, according to prosecutors — she is instead a racketeering witness. Mia's testimony may be used to support an underlying racketeering crime of forced labor. She told the jury that Combs made her work as many as five days in a row with little or no sleep. Combs was a volatile boss who stole her phone and passport during arguments that turned violent, she said. Her testimony may also support an underlying crime of bribery and obstruction of justice. Mia told the jury that Combs' bodyguard, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, called and texted her repeatedly in the weeks after Ventura's lawsuit, spinning the "Puff and Cass" relationship as normal, and offering her "a gift." Capricorn Clark, his kidnapping accuser In her testimony, Capricorn Clark, Combs' former personal assistant and marketing exec, supported the Ventura sex-trafficking charge, describing Ventura as docile, trapped, and frequently subjected to beatings. During one beating, Clark said, Combs stopped briefly to warn her, "If I jumped in he was going to fuck me up, too." Clark is primarily a racketeering witness. Her testimony supports the underlying crimes of kidnapping and extortion. Clark said Combs was so enraged by Ventura's brief 2011 romance with rival rapper Kid Cudi that he forced Clark at gunpoint to ride with him and a bodyguard to Cudi's nearby house in Hollywood Hills. "He just said get dressed, we're going to go kill this —" and here he used the N-word. Cudi — whose given name is Scott Mescudi — told the jury that he arrived home to find his dog locked in the bathroom and a table full of Christmas presents unwrapped and rifled through. Clark also corroborated trial testimony by Ventura and her mom, Regina Ventura, concerning what prosecutors call a $20,000 extortion threat. The mom said she wired Combs the money after he threatened to release explicit sex tapes of her daughter. Dawn Richard, death-threat witness Former Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard testified to a brutal 2009 beating at Combs' rented Los Angeles mansion that supports both the Ventura sex-trafficking-by-force allegation and racketeering. Combs punched, kicked, and dragged Ventura during a fight over her not cooking him breakfast quickly enough, both Ventura and Richard told the jury. The next day, Combs called Ventura and Richard into his studio and locked the door. Inside, he tried to explain the incident, gave them some flowers, and what Richard said she considered to be a death threat. "He said that what we saw was passion," Richard testified. He told them, "he was trying to take us to the top, and that, where he comes from, people go missing," if they talk to the police, she said. "And then he gave us flowers." Prosecutors may call what happened next inside the studio extortion, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice, all underlying racketeering crimes. Kerry Morgan In her testimony, Kerry Morgan supported the Ventura sex-trafficking charge, describing two times she saw Combs beat Ventura, whom she called her best friend from their teenage modeling years. Once was when Ventura took too long in the bathroom during a 2013 Jamaica vacation. Morgan said Combs dragged a screaming Ventura outside by the hair and flung her down onto some paving bricks. For about 30 seconds, "I thought she was knocked out," Morgan testified. Morgan also supported the racketeering count by describing a $30,000 hush-money payment she received from Combs. In return for the money, Morgan said, she signed a non-disclosure agreement that barred her from talking about a 2018 assault she said happened earlier that year in Ventura's Hollywood Hills house. Combs was desperate to learn "who Cassie was cheating on him with," she testified. Combs let himself into Ventura's apartment, she said. "He came up behind me, and choked me when I got away, he boomeranged a wooden hanger at my head," giving her a concussion, Morgan said. Bryana "Bana" Bongolan, who says Combs dangled her over a balcony Bryana "Bana" Bongolan, a marketing director, told jurors she and Ventura are longtime friends. They shared a lot of drugs over the years, she said — including cocaine, ketamine, and GHB. They also shared trauma, she told the jury. She once saw Combs throw a knife at Ventura, who she said threw it back. "I'm the devil and I could kill you," she testified Combs told her in 2016, seemingly at random, when she and Ventura were with him on a Malibu beach. Combs, she said, gave no explanation for the threat. Bongolan's most important testimony — feeding the prosecution's argument that Combs stood at the head of a violent, criminal "racket" — described him picking her up and holding her over the railing of a 17th-story balcony in September 2016. "You know what the fuck you did!" she said Combs kept shouting as he hoisted her into the air. Asked if she knew what he meant, she testified, "I still have no idea." On cross-examination, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland highlighted inconsistencies between what Bongolan has said in a $10 million lawsuit, in her interviews with prosecutors, and in her testimony. The defense lawyer also leaned into the defense contention that Combs' accusers have financial reasons to falsely implicate him. Westmoreland questioned Bongolan hard about her and Ventura's lawsuits against Combs. In one example, Bongolan's ongoing lawsuit accuses Combs of violent sexual assault, an allegation not made in her June 4 testimony — though Bongolan did tell jurors that Combs' hands cupped her breasts before he hoisted her up from under her arms. "It means a lot for you to become a ten-millionaire soon, doesn't it?" Westmoreland asked Bongolan, who answered, "I care about justice." Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Uses Epstein's Lawyer as Human Shield Against Musk's ‘Really Big Bomb'
President Donald Trump's previously long-standing relationship with New York financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been brought under sharp scrutiny following the president's spectacular fallout with Elon Musk. During the once-tight pair's highly public bust-up on Thursday, Musk alleged on X that the reason the Epstein files have not been released as promised is because Trump is in them, describing it as 'the really big bomb.' In the first direct response to the allegation, Trump shared a post to Truth Social on Friday to reiterate his claim that there is nothing salacious about him in Epstein's law enforcement records. 'I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that [Epstein] had no information to hurt President Trump. I specifically asked him!' wrote attorney David Schoen, who was hired to lead Epstein's defense shortly before his death in 2019. Trump shared the message to his followers on Truth Social. The White House has already responded to Musk's incendiary statement, describing the outburst as 'an unfortunate episode for Elon' and attributing the sudden vitriol to a clash over the policies contained within Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill.' The Trump administration has previously said that records relating to Epstein, including flight logs and other information, would be declassified, but that has yet to happen. Trump had a long, documented relationship with Epstein through the late 1980s to the early 2000s and appears in numerous photographs alongside him and his convicted partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. In a 2002 interview, Trump even praised Epstein as a 'terrific guy.' In 2017, Epstein described himself to author Michael Wolff as Trump's 'closest friend for 10 years,' although the pair appear to have had a falling out in the early 2000s. 'He's a horrible human being,' Epstein later said of the president in the same interview. When asked in 2024 if he would release a number of classified records relating to 9/11, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and Epstein, Trump quickly agreed, before hedging over the Epstein files. 'I guess I would. I think that less so because, you don't know, you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because it's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would,' Trump said in a Fox News interview, this section of which was cut from the broadcast. Off the back of Musk's outburst, Democrats are now calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to clarify the accusation and provide a timeline in which to declassify and release all records relating to Epstein. Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
